MIAMI (WSVN) - Parts of Interstate 95 connecting to Downtown Miami will be closed for a major construction project.
“Closures are going to be done during the night time,” construction director Oscar Gonzalez said. “First closure starts Monday.”
Over the next three weeks, drivers in and out of downtown Miami will have to pump the brakes.
Starting Monday, traffic on the major stretch of highway will be halted for massive construction.
Here’s a breakdown of what to expect.
From Monday through Wednesday, starting next week, the southbound stretch of I-95 will be closed at night into the early morning hours.
“Between 10 p.m. and 5:30 a.m., all southbound lanes on I-95, between I-195 and I-395, will be closed,” Gonzalez said.
One of the major detours for drivers looking to go downtown when I-95 is closed is to take I-195 east, get off at North Miami Avenue and take the side streets.
“And it’s bad even just getting into Brickell,” driver Kelli Hill said, “so I would say someone is going to have to try another way to get into town.”
And eventually out of town, too.
Then, in early October, all northbound lanes of I-95 in that same stretch will be closed during nighttime hours.
Drivers we talked to said it’s hard to keep up.
“This is ridiculous,” Tyrone Jackson, another driver, said. “It takes up so much of your time, it causes so much frustration.”
The shutdowns are part of a five-year, $800 million reconstruction project that aims to reshape Miami’s main roadways.
“Basically you can see the project limits outlined here in red,” Gonzalez said as he presented the map outlining the lane closures.
Connecting Miami, as it’s called, will include adding double-decker roadways along SR-836, repaving parts of I-95 and adding a signature bridge to Miami’s skyline over Biscayne Boulevard in Downtown Miami.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXcPaq5WxKM
“We have to close the entire roadway during the operation,” Gonzalez said. “There’s going to be a lot of equipment, and we obviously don’t want cars driving underneath.”
All these closures and detours can be overwhelming, and they’ll affect everyone differently, depending on where you commute.
For a more detailed look at alternate routes south of I-95, click here. To find detours northbound, click here.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.